Obama defends faith in America amid critique

Washington  Republican Mitt Romney accuses President Barack Obama of considering America “just another nation.” To other GOP politicians running for the White House, Obama has apologized for the United States and is presiding over the nation’s decline.

Now comes the counteroffensive.

The president of the United States is defending his faith in America, confronting GOP efforts to undercut his leadership and raise questions about his patriotism as he seeks re-election.

In the battle over “American exceptionalism,” Obama used a recent trip to Asia to highlight America’s role as the strongest and most influential nation on earth. In this election season, responding to the Republican critique is essential for Obama, the only incumbent ever compelled to show a birth certificate to defend his legitimacy.

“Sometimes the pundits and the newspapers and the TV commentators love to talk about how America is slipping and America is in decline,” Obama said Wednesday at a New York fundraiser. “That’s not what you feel when you’re in Asia. They’re looking to us for leadership. They know that America is great not just because we’re powerful, but also because we have a set of values that the world admires.”

“We don’t just think about what’s good for us, but we’re also thinking about what’s good for the world,” he said. “That’s what makes us special. That’s what makes us exceptional.”

Republicans have seized on “American exceptionalism,” a belief among many in the nation that the U.S. is special among global powers, and tried to portray Obama as expressing ambivalence about the promise of his own country. The message resounds with party activists who still admire President Ronald Reagan, who memorialized America as that “Shining City on a Hill” during the 1980s.

“We have a president right now who thinks America’s just another nation. America is an exceptional nation,” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said during a GOP debate in Las Vegas last month. Even his campaign slogan — “Believe in America” — suggests that the current president doesn’t.

Others have tried to use it to their advantage.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly last month, said Obama had “traveled around the country making excuses for America, apologizing for America, saying that America is not an exemplary country.”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized Obama after 16 Latin American and Caribbean nations filed “friend of the court” briefs in a Justice Department lawsuit against a tough new immigration law in South Carolina, home to an important GOP primary. “It makes you wonder what country does President Obama think he is president of,” Gingrich said.

Obama has given detractors ample material for their attacks.

At a San Francisco fundraiser in October, the president talked about the importance of investing in education, new roads and bridges and other ways to build the economy.

“We used to have the best stuff. Anybody been to Beijing Airport lately?” Obama said, asking what has changed. “Well, we’ve lost our ambition, our imagination and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam.” Republicans picked up on the comments, accusing Obama of calling Americans unambitious.

During a meeting with business executives in Honolulu last month, Obama was asked about impediments to investment in the U.S. He said many foreign investors see opportunity here, “but we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think over the last couple of decades.” The “lazy” comments were quickly turned into an attack ad from Perry.

During a 2009 news conference, Obama was asked whether he subscribed to the concept of American exceptionalism. He said he believed in American exceptionalism, “just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”

The president said he was “enormously proud of my country” and highlighted the nation’s “core set of values enshrined in our Constitution” that ensure democracy, free speech and equality. Words that voters are likely to hear more of during the next year.

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Comments

This insistence on exceptionalism is interesting and probably a bit paranoid. We need to wake up and get strategic about our objectives. Recent economic developments suggest the 20th century was 'ours' and the 21st will belong to India, Russa to an exent, China and the Pacific Rim. We have a chance to change this momentum, but it will be tough if we continue the infighting and don't get our act together. We can dream it and repeat it but there is no invisible force making us great. The greatness is within us if we choose to use it wisely.

"Gee, to all the corporations hopping international borders in search of tax breaks, America sure seems to be just another country"
America isn't just another country. It's the country with the second highest corporate taxes in the world. Hence the fact that corporations are sitting on trillions of dollars doing nothing in foreign banks. It's not what corporations are doing, it's what the government's tax policies are encouraging them to do. It's the only responsible thing for them to do.
BTW - when it comes to searching for tax breaks, I also take the individual exemption, the mortgage deduction, etc. They are all perfectly legal. I use the savings to save for my child's college fund. It's the only responsible thing to do.
Why do we criticize corporations for behaving in the same manner in which we all behave?

Sure doesn't feel like we've been very 'exceptional' for a while now. There are many countries where the politicians act like juvenile delinquents and the parties they represent are at divisive odds over even the smallest details.
I will say I doubt there are many that can print 7+trillion out of thin air to give to the banks at .001 interest and then 'borrow' it back. That IS exceptional. Just not in a good way.